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  Profile

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  In flight

Waterfowl

Northern Pintail

Anas acuta

• common
• 80 km/h
• Starter
• Least Concern

Elegant long-tailed duck that migrates vast distances. First-class delivery.

Population

~4.7-4.8 million mature individuals (roughly 7.1-7.2 million total individuals), per 2012 estimate cited in the 2019 IUCN assessment; decreasing trend

Habitat

Breeds in open, unwooded wetlands such as wet grassland, prairie potholes, and tundra with shallow freshwater or brackish water; winters in estuaries, coastal lagoons, brackish marshes, and flooded agricultural fields.

Fun fact

The Northern Pintail is named for the male's long, needle-like central tail feathers, which give the species its elegant, slender silhouette in flight.

Range

Holarctic breeder across northern Europe, northern Asia (Palearctic), and North America (Alaska, Canada, northern Great Plains); highly migratory, wintering south to Central America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South/Southeast Asia.

Diet

Omnivorous dabbling duck: mainly seeds, waste grain, and aquatic vegetation (especially in winter), switching to aquatic invertebrates (insects, molluscs, crustaceans) during the breeding season.

Size

0.635 m

Wingspan

0.87 m

Lifespan

27 years